How do you measure a year?
by geekchic79
Summary: Songfic inspired by seasons of love from rent, Jack looks back over a year with Ianto, my first time so please review! there will be more cos obviously there are more lyrics to cover, xxxx will try and update soon but i'm finishing exams x
1. 525,600 minutes

The hub was uncharacteristically quiet, Gwen lay slumped at her desk fiddling with the oddly shaped artefact that they had yet to discover a purpose for, and Toshiko was adjusting the photographs around her computer screen, glancing hopefully over at Owen who was attempts at a card pyramid lay in disarray around his elbows. Ianto was, as usual, by the coffee machine this time concocting a new blend using cappuccino, chocolate and something which smelt suspiciously like raw onion. There was silence except for the humming of computers and the beep of the rift monitor every minute or so. Only Ianto looked up when there beloved leader bounded through the cog door and quickly became enveloped by the wave of boredom that seemed to wash from the team.

"Jack we're bored!" grumbled Owen, with the voice of a petulant school child

"This rift activity's been going on for two days now and nothings even happened" Gwen chipped in.

Jack raised his eyebrows and half-smiled, "why don't you kids go out for a drink and I'll keep an eye on things here"

"You don't need to tell me twice" replied Owen, and knowing it was foolish to pass up any opportunity for time off whilst working at Torchwood the girls grabbed their coats and followed Owen out through the cog door.

"Still here?" enquired Jack, Ianto Jones still stood by the coffee machine, still mixing ingredients and breathing in the strong scent of coffee.

"I've got to um, catch up on some filing sir" replied Ianto

Jack hid a smile, in the year that he had known Ianto he had never once forgotten to file away a report and the idea had become something of a code between them. Ianto 'catching up on some filing' meant him waiting until the others had left, and then coming up to Jacks office to test out the recently repaired stopwatch.

"How was your day" Jack questioned

"not the most interesting," admitted Ianto, "I worked out that there are 525,600 minutes in a year and that's about it"

Jack laughed, in his time away on the Valiant memory of Ianto and his sharp wit had been one of the things that had sustained him. He began to make his way up to his office in the hope that Ianto would follow,

"but it makes you think sir"

Jack turned round

" 525600 minutes. We're so small compared to everything in the universe, so insignificant, how do we mark it out, make our lives count? With everything that happens to us how do we measure a year?"

Jack couldn't think of an answer to the question, he had lived such a long life that a year seemed like a comparably short amount of time despite the amount that happened to him. Luckily the younger man had turned away and begun to walk down into the archives.

Jack continued up the cold metal staircase entered his office, shrugging of his great coat he threw himself down in his old comfy chair.

How did you measure a year?

In Sunsets

Jack thought of the time that he and Ianto had sat up on the roof of the hub at dusk so that they could watch the autumn sunset. Holding each other close just to keep warm, Ianto had snuggled into Jack's greatcoat and it was the first time in years that Jack had really felt safe. He wrapped his arms tightly around Ianto's shivering body and rubbed his hands across the wool of Ianto's suit until he was warm again. As the sky had darkened they had laid together on a blanket brought up from Jack's quarters, Jack resting his head on Ianto's chest and Ianto running soft skilful fingers through his hair. Jack remembered listening to Ianto's slow, steady breathing and closing his eyes, falling for the first time in years into a deep peaceful sleep.

In cups of coffee

Jack remembered the first time that Ianto had brought him coffee, a cold December morning, a strange man waiting outside the tourist information office. Jack remembered how he had almost refused Ianto a job at Torchwood, he was startled to realise how much he would have missed out on if he had done this. He would never have got to know Ianto Jones and everything he loved about him. The soft curl of his hair, the way he smiled and rolled his eyes when Jack made some flirtatious comment, and the darkness, that frightening magic deep inside him that he only revealed to Jack. Since he had known Ianto he must have drunk hundreds of cups of his coffee, sweet, hot and delicious a little like the man who made it there was little that Jack wouldn't do just to get a taste. Jack savoured the memory of the scent of coffee beans on his lover's skin and the taste of dark chocolate on his lips. Jack swore that there was something else in that coffee, something addictive that made him fall for Ianto harder than he had ever fallen for anyone else, and even if he new how to, he didn't want to quit.

In Midnights

Jack remembered the time that he had woken to find Ianto still at the hub after dark. Staring into Toshiko's computer screen, tears staining his cheeks. Jack glanced over at the clock, it had just past midnight. Jack walked over to the Welshman and placed a hand on his shoulder, Ianto flinched at his touch. "What have you got?" he had asked, the question hung in the air and seemed foolish when there were so many thing he wanted to say to Ianto. Ianto had given his understated reply and turned round to look at Jack. Looking deep into the silver dribbled pools of Ianto's eyes and seeing them darken, Jack had raised his hand to caress Ianto's shoulder.

"Talk to me" he had said

That night Jack listened, to Ianto's stories about his father, his sister but oddly never his mother, how the boys at school had pushed him over for hanging around with the girls in the playground, how he's left school at sixteen to try and find work. About Lisa and how he still missed her even though he knew that she had been dead long before the team had shot her, Jack listened to Ianto's confusion to his anger and to a soul that was broken and scarred. By 2am Ianto lay in Jack's arms on the small sofa under the Torchwood underground sign. Tears were still coursing silently down cheeks but Jack lay his head on Ianto's chest and listened to the beat of his heart and it had felt steadier and more even than before. All through the night someone had protected Ianto from the nightmares, kissing away the tears that made steady and persistent tracks across his soft cheeks.


	2. In inches, in miles

In inches

In inches

Jack remembered finding Ianto's diary resting on a small table by an old green leather arm chair at the back of the maze of archives. He's hands had ghosted over the heavy book wondering whether or not he should take a look. After several minutes of wrestling with his conscience Jack had opened the leather bound book at its last entry.

"10 inches!" it read "Jack must have been lying; either that or that measuring tape we found is seriously faulty" Jack smiled remembering a particularly enjoyable afternoon when the others had gone out to recapture an escaped Janet, he and Ianto had disappeared into his office with a stopwatch, a tape measure and a pair of handcuffs and remained there for several hours. He made a mental note to remind Ianto that measuring tapes never lied. Jack skipped back to the middle of the diary and observed the date in Ianto's neat black handwriting it said "28th February 2007" but what Jack read next brought tears to his eyes, "10 days since Jack left us".

"Dear Diary" Jack read

"Jack has been missing for ten days now, Gwen tells me not to worry, the captain can look after himself, and I know that, but I'm still scared. Scared that he might not come back, scared that he's left us, left me, forever. There are too many things that I miss about him, his smile, those ancient eyes, the way he knows me better than I know myself, the way we always laugh at the same things. But it's all stupid, I've got to forget him, he didn't feel the same way about me did he? No, of course not, I'm just the teaboy, maybe Owen was right... I should probably go now the team need their coffee.

Ianto

Jack had brushed the tears from his cheeks and shut the diary with a snap, he had never realised how much his going away had affected Ianto, in all the time he had been back he had never asked, never tried to understand. Jack had stood in the gloomy darkness of the archives for several hours, until Ianto had come down to find him, and seeing his tears, captured his lips in a sweet, loving kiss.

In miles

Jack remembered the time that the SUV had broken down and he and Ianto had been stranded on the outskirts of Cardiff. They had walked the ten miles back to the hub hand in hand. Jack remembered walking on through the night, stopping to look at the lights that danced across the water's edge, with Ianto he was oblivious to the hustle and bustle of Cardiff on a Friday night, he was the only thing that mattered, the soft sound of Ianto's deep breathing was the only thing Jack focused on whilst seagulls squawked and girls gabbled.

Jack remembered the three mile Weevil chase that he and Ianto had endured when he first joined Torchwood. Sprinting through the wind and rain of the storm they had crossed half of the city centre trying the capture their escaped prisoner. Lightening flashed, wind howled and rain had soaked Ianto as he sedated the Weevil and left it lying on the ground. He stood up to face Jack. Ianto was breathing heavily after the three mile chase and Jack was just a little to close. Jack had raised his hand to Ianto's face intending to check the cuts and bruises that marked the younger man's skin, but instead he found his lips pressed against Ianto's and what started softly soon turned fierce and passionate. Rain soaked the two of them and thunder crashed above, but lips and teeth and tongues danced they were completely absorbed in each other.


	3. In Laughter

In laughter

Author's notes: Not sure if the last two chapters did the song justice so I thought I'd make things a bit shorter, I ended up not using some of the lyrics as it was getting a bit too angsty but I hope you enjoy it  Thank you to everyone who reviewed it is much appreciated

In laughter

"Jack get off!" Ianto had screamed, he had just stolen Jack's pillow and now Jack was threatening to tickle him to oblivion. Jack chuckled as the younger man squirmed and giggled tears of laughter streaming down his cheeks. Ianto had then proceeded to whack Jack rather heavily with the pillow causing an explosion of fluff and feathers to cover the entire room. "See!" said Jack "now look what you've done" Ianto's contrite face was enough to make him burst out laughing again. "Its. Not. Funny!" shouted Ianto punctuating each word with a whack of the pillow and Jacks head before bursting into giggles himself. Jack had wrapped one arm around Ianto and snuggled into his shoulder, turning to face him Ianto had planted a kiss on his nose and still half laughing Jack had fallen into a deep sleep.

In journey's to plan

Jack remembered telling Ianto about the universe and all the different places he wanted to take him, "I've got this friend" he had said, "a doctor, he sort of got a spaceship, if I ever find him again then I want to show you everything". Although Ianto had been slow to trust this promise he had quickly become fascinated with tales of the iridescent sapphire waterfalls of midnight, of sparkling supernovas and worlds where the grass smelt like apples and the moon shone down on floating buildings suspended over pools of molten lava. Jack remembered the longing in Ianto's eyes and had known from then on that he wanted to be with Ianto more than anything else in the whole world.

In truths that she learned

Jack remembered Gwen's wedding day, how he had found her and apologised for the things that he had said before the ceremony. He remembered looking her straight in her eyes as he confessed that it was Ianto he loved, Ianto he had always loved and how he was sorry for leading her on, especially on her wedding day. Gwen had twisted a strand of hair around her finger and mumbled that it didn't matter and then fled back to the dance floor to find Rhys. Jack remembered following her to ask for one last dance, just to set things right between them.

In the way that she died

Jack remembered Lisa; going with Ianto to her funeral was one of the hardest things that he had ever had to do. Watching Ianto scatter earth on an empty coffin whilst he spoke of his girlfriend's spirit, her love of live and her ability to survive through everything Jack was consumed with guilt. Although he had blamed Ianto for endangering the lives of his team, anger had been replaced by a growing feeling of guilt. Should he have spent more time with Ianto? Tried to find out more about him? On the way back to the hub Jack had looked into Ianto's eyes and found no anger and no resentment. He found release there.

Jack jolted awake to find that he had been day dreaming with his head resting on his arms. He thought again over 525,600 moments shared with Ianto. A glance across the hub, a kiss stolen from his lover's lips at the back of the archives, a gentle hand on his arm and a voice that soothed him from his nightmares, everything that he loved about Ianto Jones.

"Well sir?" said a soft welsh voice coming from the doorway, "How do you measure a year?"

Jack smiled and walked over to Ianto, lacing his fingers through his, his eyes met Ianto's and he asked, "What about love?"

Ianto returned the smile and spoke five simple words of agreement, "measure your life in love"


End file.
